Issues with image, outreach discussed

Steve Mullen, of ForeSee Consulting, discusses future expansion in Sterling with local business owners Friday morning during a round table discussion. (David Martinez/Journal-Advocate)

Sterling business owners were up before the sun Friday, coffee in hand, to talk about Sterling's future.

McCool Development Solutions, the consulting firm in charge of updating Sterling's master plan, brought the preliminary results from Thursday's community workshop to the owners for a roundtable discussion. The continued theme: What should Sterling look like by 2030?

After an hour of talk in Sterling's CSU Extension Office, the dozen-plus meeting attendees didn't have a blueprint for the city. But they addressed a handful of issues they said the city would need to fix if it were to improve and expand.

"It starts with business owners," said John Wray, of Marsau's Auto Supply, after the meeting. "If we don't do it, it won't get done. ... But trying to herd business owners is like trying to herd cats."

He was skeptical about the meeting producing results, but he agreed with several others that it was a good start.

Steve Mullen, who is consulting along with McCool Development, argued that it was necessary to plan for 2,800 new homes when looking that far out to account for a coming oil boom in the region. He pointed to an image placing northeast Colorado right in the middle of an area highlighted for "frackable geologies," meaning it's likely oil interest in the region will continue to grow for years.

In the maps' plans from the Thursday workshop, Mullen noted that each one contained open space, the addition of "big box" companies like Target, a growing college and more density downtown.

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"There's a focus first on quality of jobs, then on quality of life," Mullen said. "We're synthesizing these maps into two or three realistic scenarios. It's not just rhetoric anymore; it's measurable changes."

But Wray was concerned that it would be difficult to find younger, capable people to run his business when he retires, and that other businesses would face the same problem.

Carrie McCool, of McCool Development, said that concern presented a "quality of life" issue, and that the group made sure to engage both regular people and sub-groups, such as seniors and students. They've involved the community on their website (sterling.mccooldevelopment.com) as well, but admitted that they didn't have many business owners come to their workshops.

The group assured her that many didn't go to the previous workshop because they opted to attend the roundtable, but she brought up the college demographic as well.

"They told us they pretty much go from the college to Walmart," she said.

Several said they don't see that group go into their stores very often (and they might not have a lot of money, either), but that the group generally doesn't get involved with the community.

"It's good to see what people want and need. Demographics change," said Alexis Ertle, of Ertle Brothers Discount Auto. "Sometimes you have to change. You have to listen."

Alex Wright, lawyer and president of the Logan County Economic Development Corporation, thought that was a problem a lot of businesses shared.

"Business owners in town don't have the slightest idea of what the customer wants," he said. "Most are open 8 to 5. But most people work 8 to 5."

He used the example of having hundreds of people downtown to watch the Logan County Courthouse lit up, and seeing businesses "kicking people out of their stores."

Wray also said that Sterling had an image problem and that he's had to sell the city more than he's had to sell the profits to some businesses that have thought about moving to town.

Laurie Jones, business consultant for the Colorado Small Business Development Center, argued that studies showed there were lots of reasons people moved to Sterling, and more than 650 businesses are registered in Logan County.

But she says the city needs to reform certain issues, such as those in building codes and the business license registration process.